In a decision that is sure to make history, the grand jury in St. Louis County Missouri has refused to indict killer cop Darren Wilson. Wilson is the Ferguson police officer who shot unarmed teen Michael Brown this past August. The decision has been met with disbelief and outrage by the residents of Ferguson and the black community. Tonight Ferguson, Missouri will be occupied once again by Missouri National Guard units and law enforcement.When the decision was announced at a press conference this evening at 9 PM there was an audible gasp from the audience gathered and cries of “F—the police”.
As night falls on the city, protesters have begun to gather and express their anger at the grand jury decision. The grand jury consisted of nine white jurors and three black jurors and all testimony was heard in secret. There were cries of foul because of prosecuting attorney Robert McCulloch’s refusal to recuse himself from the case. McCulloch’s father was a police officer killed in the line of duty and there were concerns that he was prejudiced to the plight of a young black man killed by police. In addition McCulloch took the highly unusual step of not presenting to the grand jury what charges he would be seeking against Darren Wilson. Instead the jury was given all of the evidence and instructed to determine what charges should be brought against Wilson,who was facing charges of intentional murder or some degree of manslaughter for the shooting of Michael Brown.
The grand jury decision was announced during the late evening hours, which some protesters called “shady”. When the Gov. Jay Nixon was asked during his earlier press conference why the late announcement he responded that it was the prosecutor’s decision. Nixon also refused to respond to a reporters question regarding the use of tear gas on protesters. In addition the Brown family was not notified ahead of time that a decision had been reached. According to family attorney Benjaman Crump, “The family has felt they have been mistreated through this entire episode”.
